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Never mind the editorial bit at the top or what we said the last time or where the music coverage has been in recent weeks, everything has gone sideways here and you’ve read all this already, just jump down past this editorial bit and let the actual music do the actually talking. Exact same thing again, another five (or so) slices of musical things that can do all the talking themselves and however you like to slice it and of course it was the price of apples and here comes the intro….
Five? There’s something rather compelling about five. Cross-pollination? Five more? Do we need to do the editorial bit again? Is there another way? A better way? A cure for pulling flying dogs out of the clouds? Is there a rhyme? Is there a reason? Was there ever a reason? What do reasons make? Five more? Snake oil? Everything must go and same as last time (and the time before that) five, and no, we never do and the proof of the pudding is in that proof reading. When we started this thing, oh never mind, it doesn’t matter why we started this damn thing and like we asked last time, does anyone bother reading the editorial? Does anyone ever actually look down the rabbit hole or is it all just method acting? We do really try to listen to everything that comes in, we do it so you don’t have to, we are very (very) very very picky about what we actually post on these fractured pages or about what gets played on the radio or indeed what we hang in a gallery. Cut to the chase, never mind the editorial, there’s loads of music further down the page, well five or so pieces of music that have come our way in the last few days and cut cut slash and cut it, who needs an editorial or words or worms in general? What’s Wordsworth? Just facts and links and sounds then. Here you go, play the music, grab your five, eat your greens, go eat some art, go eat some fresh music and don’t forget whatever it was we said last time…
Here we go again, in no particular order….
1: Cold in Berlin, now there’s a name and a band who we haven’t crossed paths with for a good few years, have they been quiet or is it just us? This is a new track, a track off an EP Tthat’s due out on January 24th f next year. Are we ready to think about 2024 already? Nooooo, here’s some streaming links, Cold in Berlin are sounding rather healthy here with Dream One, talking of streamin here’s our latest monthly playlist
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And here’s your Bandcamp thing and the details of that new EP – ‘The Body is the Wound’ EP is the first new material from the band since the lauded 2019 album Rituals of Surrender. While Rituals ‘crushing doom laden riffs… assaulted the speakers with its steady pulse of noise’ (Narc magazine), this new collection of songs are armed with a more diverse set of audio weaponry, firing crunchy synthesiser stabs at razor-sharp guitar riffs to create a hypnotic and inventive vehicle with which to carry vocalist Maya’s ‘tightly rhythmic and unrelenting cantankerous storm’”
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2: Bonnacons of Doom – A rather healthy second slice of something taken from the Bonnacons of Doom album Signs released on 27 October 2023 via Rocket Recordings…
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“This mirror masked collective, amassed from across the North of England, have stepped up their mission for the new album. Currently on the road with Pigsx7, with further dates confirmed for around the album release,
Ceremonial leader Kate Smith, explains, “Trying to make sense of the world in the age of multiple meanings we see patterns emerging from the ether as a flicker of hope, only for them to disappear into dust. The most banal signifier can be a potent of the heaviest of times while we laugh off our impending destruction. Nagging digital echoes are buried by swathes of organic water only for new signs to emerge.”
The new album takes the band’s engagement with tradition and ritual on a new trajectory, tracking forward into our digital lives and exploring how our actions are shaped by the post-human environment. New rituals and behavioural patterning evolve in response to the dominance of digital flows and interactions. The desire to reconnect to the ancient and the mystic grows stronger as our daily lives become ever more enmeshed within waves of information and disinformation.
The accelerated course into the post-digital begs pause for thought on this new realm’s impact on human and ecological development. Building on the intimidating intensity of Bonnacons Of Doom’s self-titled 2018 debut, Signs offers a sonic response to the tension between the urge to pursue continuity with our past and to adapt to our changing present. Hypnotic grooves and the monomaniacal intensity of the riff are fractured by digital interplay, electronics and the incantatory vocals of ceremonial leader Kate Smith, coalescing into a metaphysical force which stands defiant of easy categorisation”. Bandcamp
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3: Fantastic Twins – Berlin-based French producer, musician and vocalist Julienne Dessagne AKA Fantastic Twins and a new single Land of Pleasure Hi Fi from her just released debut album Two Is Not a Number, out on her own recently-launched label imprint House of Slessor.
“Suspensefully, the percussive heartbeat of ‘Land of Pleasure Hi Fi’ wrings tension from numerology, blossoming into a scorched industrial ballet, a mirage of multiplicity
An exploration of duality and multiplicity embodied by the pair, the LP’s title paraphrases a quote from David Lynch’s ‘What Did Jack Do?’, where its monkey protagonist proclaims “this thing is bigger than both of us” – in this case interpreted as two halves of the same whole, offering infinite possibilities.
These musings on the psychological, emotional, biological, and metaphysical qualities of Twins are expressed with assured clarity, using a palate of icy deep techno, eerie soundtrack atmospherics, tranced-out dark wave and synth pop noir. Whether through airborne dancefloor ascension, diamond hard rhythms, electronic thundercracks, incantations to the moon, or empathy drenched vocals and the palpable sense of unease, this standout album brings Dessagne’s powerful, affecting art into sharp focus.
Referencing a quote from Sun Ra’s ‘New Horizons’ that particularly resonated with Dessagne’s approach to music as “the sight of boundless space reaching ever outward as if in search of itself”, sounds appear as pristine green, cyan, purple and silver beams, which slice through their enshroudment in an infinite inky black abyss.
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Although ‘Two Is Not A Number’ appears to contain elements from the darker side of pop, this is purely unintentional, as she remarks: “I draw very little influence from pop music; I’m actually not very familiar with it. My main influences include Cosey Fanni Tutti, Chris Carter, Coil, Basic Channel, Nina Simone, Mika Vainio, Pan Sonic, Zoviet France, Pete Namlook, Muslimgauze, Exquisite Corpse, and Seefeel. Film and computer game soundtracks too.”
The psychedelic documentary ‘Bight Of The Twin’ – which examines just one of the many varying cultural viewpoints of Twins prevalent in mythology – proved especially stimulating. Filmed in Benin, Africa; a town devoted to an ancient Vodun cult that celebrates Twins, the film comes to a conclusion which Julienne then quotes on the lovely phosphorescent pulse of closing track ‘All Of This Is Resolved’
Find the rather impressive album on Bandcamp
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4: TV’s Daniel have just released their debut album, It really is an excellent start, that opening track, A Long Way From The Top is all urgent stabs of energy, it isn’t all just urgent new wave and stabbing lines of urgent guitar though, the very North American sounding band have a number of dimensions, this is a rather accomplished debut album. Is there a touch of late 70’s English pop in there? That rather underrated Professionals thing Cook and Jones did so well? Maybe a touch of Pulp? Dandy Warhols maybe? Kind of like this, kind of like this band, they look and sound like they’d be a rather rewarding live experience…
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“Exploring heartbreak, death and self-worth, TV’s Daniel debuts new magnetic punk-induced pop album, ‘Never Change’, with Wild Honey Records. Comparable to an MTV-inspired juggernaut, Daniel delivers a distinct and powerful narrative while guitar leads blend effortlessly with bombastic percussion. Taking inspiration from 90’s one-hit wonders and iconic rock bands like Pulp and INXS, rhythmic guitar hooks and simple chord progressions lead the listener on a diverse orchestral exploration. With the help of producer Chico Jones, TV’s Daniel solidifies their unequivocal musical capabilities in a provocative Britpop-influenced ten-track masterpiece.
TV’s Daniel formed in 2017, igniting a new punk ethos era that Austin, TX so deeply yearned for. Daniel Fried is no stranger to music, playing in bands such as Bad Sports, Radioactivity, and VIDEO. After years of collaborating with other people, Daniel decided he wanted to create his own band, his own sound, with his own principles. Reminiscent of British pop anthems and eighties opulent rock, TV’s Daniel was formed. Chris Prorock rips heavy drum beats, Jason Smith (OBN III’s) Ryan Fitzgibbon (Porcelain) and Mike Garrido (OBN III’s, Baxu) each make their own unique sound on guitar, while Lisa Alley (The Well) shreds bass and offers her perfectly pitched harmonies when given the chance. Throughout TV’s Daniel’s amplified simple chord structures, they seamlessly navigate the devastation of love, the influence of sex and the power of failing upwards. For all intents and purposes, Daniel Fried assembled a band, but through TV’s Daniel, he’s created a musical freedom that finally feels obtainable for the rest of us”.
Find the whole album on Bandcamp
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5: Holy Coves are from Holy Island, I gre up on Holy Island, I’m guessing most of you don’t know where that is? Answers a on a postcard care of the man who probably doesn’t live at the end of Four Mile Bridge anymore. Actually in these days of fast roads to Manchester and the Internet that probably has reached there by now, it probably doesn’t matter now but the fact that they said Holy Island made me want to like them more than if they were from Surrey or Halifax. They’re kind of doing that big bold indie rock thing, there’s something a little extra in there though, something that makes them stand out a little, soemthing about the way they’ve crafted things… Here’s their Linktree
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And while we’re here, this month’s still evolving monthly playlist thing….
THE ORGAN 
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